Dr. Theresa Towner Named Teacher of the Year
At The University of Texas at Dallas

Chancellor’s Council Award Includes $5,000 Prize

RICHARDSON, Texas (April 15, 2002) - Dr. Theresa M. Towner, an
assistant professor
of literary studies in the School of Arts & Humanities and an authority on
the work of Nobel Prize-winning novelist William Faulkner, has been
selected teacher of the year at The University of Texas at Dallas (UTD)
for the 2001-2002 academic year.

The award, which is provided each year by The University of Texas
System Chancellor’s Council to recognize excellence in teaching at each of
the system’s nine general academic institutions, is accompanied by a
$5,000 prize and will be presented to Towner May 17 at an Honors
Convocation in the Conference Center on campus. Towner also will speak at
the convocation.

UTD President Dr. Franklyn G. Jenifer said Dr. Towner, who joined UTD
as an adjunct lecturer in 1994, was selected from nearly 60 UTD teachers
nominated by students for the honor, which is formally called the
Chancellor’s Council Outstanding Teaching Award.

“Dr. Towner has a reputation as an inspiring and passionate teacher who
loves her work and makes her students work hard,” Dr. Jenifer said. “She
embodies that rare combination of scholar and teacher. We are fortunate to
have her here at U.T. Dallas.”

Towner was nominated as UTD’s “Teacher of the Year” for her teaching of
the class Exploration of the Humanities, a course with about 150
students. One student who nominated Towner wrote, “I never missed this
class because I was always anxious to hear what she might say next.”
Another said, “She is captivating and energetic and always makes things
interesting.” A third said, “I aspire to be a teacher like her.” And a
fourth wrote simply, “Towner rocks!”

Towner has published extensively and is the author of the book
Faulkner On the Color Line: The Later Novels. She also has taught at
the University of Virginia and Texas Woman’s University, and she served as
Arts & Humanities college master from 1998 through 2001. She received her
Ph.D. from the University of Virginia and holds a Master of Arts degree
from the University of Exeter in England. She did her undergraduate work
at the University of Kansas.

The honoree said she was “deeply moved” to have been selected for the
teaching award, “especially at a university that expects excellence in
teaching.”

“Teachers of literature spend all their time with great language,” she
said. “I’m still looking for the right words to express just how it feels
to receive this honor from my students and colleagues. So far, I have the
two most important ones: Thank you.”

About UTD

The University of Texas at Dallas, located at the
convergence of Richardson, Plano and Dallas in the heart of the complex of
major multinational technology corporations known as the Telecom Corridor,
enrolls more than 7,000 undergraduate and 5,000 graduate students. The
school’s freshman class traditionally stands at the forefront of Texas
state universities in terms of average SAT scores. The university offers a
broad assortment of bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degree programs. For
additional information about UTD, please visit the university’s web site
at www.utdallas.edu.